DML - Mission Creation Toolbox [no Lua required]

[DD_Friar]

On 11/7/2024 at 7:26 AM, cfrag said:

convoy 2.1.0
        new convoyTriggerMethod 

I think you may have a version typo...

null

[Dallatorre]

On 11/7/2024 at 7:46 AM, cfrag said:

Yes and no. DML is not designed to be code-modified. It's not intended for code heads at all, it is designed to be used as is, from people who do NOT want to modify, or dabble in, code

So if all you need is some script that plays some sound file, and you feel sure enough about mission scripting, you can take DML's modules as some source of inspiration how to go about that. Bomb Range could be such an inspiration, Guardian Angel another. Your scrip would center on an event handler that traps 'shot', lhen looks at who shoots, analyses the weapon that was shot, and if all matches as desired, you play the sound file. On your way, you'll probably discover some of DCS's idiosyncrasies. To quote Calvin's Father: "they build character". I do not discuss code in this thread, though. For code discussions, I recommend that you open a separate thread or PM me.

 

Sorry for that, anyway took some free time and your modules are very elegant from the inside, in the end I managed to do it, using as libraries cfxZones and dcsCommon. 
Would you like to integrate that in the package? it still follows your design language: setup using zones, comma separated lists of possible responses... 

Spoiler

AVAILABLE ACTIONS
The actions programmed in the module are:
⦁    Fire a Fox-1 missile
⦁    Fire a Fox-2 missile
⦁    Fire a Fox-3 missile
⦁    Fire a TV Guided missile (e.g. Mavericks)
⦁    Fire a Laser Guided missile (e.g. Hellfire)
⦁    Fire a Manual Tele Guided missile (e.g. Bullpups)
⦁    Fire Guns
⦁    Pickle Bombs
⦁    Fire Rockets
at the moment bomb types are not distinguished.
Messages  can be given as singles or as lists, where CombatChatter will select one of the applicable responses randomly.
 

 

Edited November 8, 2024 by Dallatorre

[Chad Vader]

Hi.

I have a quick question about a problem ive been trying to solve using DML.

I have 3 owned zones that flip from on to off during the course of a mission.

When they are blue they are on and red they are off.

I tried to use x flags to detect when they are all off, but I cant quite get it to work.  I need to perpetually check the status of the zones and bang a flag once the minute they are blue or at least one of them is red.

2 could be blue and 1 red for example, then flip that one to blue and then change a flag, then i check that flag every second to see if it is raised.

Any ideas  Thanks!

[Guest]

10 hours ago, DD_Friar said:

@Gunslinger52

When using the LZ module, as you say you have two flags landed! and departed! (these two have ! at the end meaning they are flags being updated)

Your other modules that are watching these two flags for activity are not just looking for it to be equal to 1 (although you can achieve that if that is what your mission logic needs but I don't think that is applicable here) they are looking for a change in its state/value.

Lets say you have the flag "landedAtZone1" against the landed! parameter and "departedZone1" against departed!

I land in the zone, "landedAtZone1" is hit and, by default, incremented. I have a another module, lets say a cloner. You want a vehicle to activate on the landing. That will have a parameter called clone? and flag that is "landedAtZone1" (LZ is the Yeller, Clone is the Listener "LZ to Clone are you receiving Over - Go ahead LZ Over, - This is LZ, we have a landing in Zone 1, Over - Roger That LZ I will send out the trucks, this is Clone Out.").  "This will action every time landedAtZone1 changes". Multiple landings means multiple clones. Same applied to "departedAtZone1".

 

@DD_Friar I can't thank you enough.   The time you've taken to explain this, has just saved me weeks of going crazy!  

So in short: As soon as you take off again,  the landedAtZone1 flag changes state by itself?  And this is the case for all flags?

Seriously appreciate it

'52

[Chad Vader]

hey me again, ive created a mission in DML and it all works fine in singleplayer but on a mp server it doesnt work, my triggers dont work none of my units spawn in and none of my messengers work... any ideas?

[cfrag]

16 minutes ago, Chad Vader said:

any ideas?

This may sound silly, but… have you made sure that the server unpauses when you join? 

[Chad Vader]

3 minutes ago, cfrag said:

This may sound silly, but… have you made sure that the server unpauses when you join? 

Yea, weirdly, I loaded one of my other missions that uses DML, and this seems to have made the other mission work.  But there are random little teething errors like, the sounds wont fire sometimes and sometimes the zones dont change hands in mp but the do in sp...

[Guest]

17 hours ago, DD_Friar said:

@Gunslinger52

When using the LZ module, as you say you have two flags landed! and departed! (these two have ! at the end meaning they are flags being updated)

Your other modules that are watching these two flags for activity are not just looking for it to be equal to 1 (although you can achieve that if that is what your mission logic needs but I don't think that is applicable here) they are looking for a change in its state/value.

Lets say you have the flag "landedAtZone1" against the landed! parameter and "departedZone1" against departed!

I land in the zone, "landedAtZone1" is hit and, by default, incremented. I have a another module, lets say a cloner. You want a vehicle to activate on the landing. That will have a parameter called clone? and flag that is "landedAtZone1" (LZ is the Yeller, Clone is the Listener "LZ to Clone are you receiving Over - Go ahead LZ Over, - This is LZ, we have a landing in Zone 1, Over - Roger That LZ I will send out the trucks, this is Clone Out.").  "This will action every time landedAtZone1 changes". Multiple landings means multiple clones. Same applied to "departedAtZone1".

 

Hi DD_Friar,

incredibly, it appears as though I haven't understood a single thing

In this mission (forget the helo for now), I'd expected to see these things below (none of which occur):

 - smoke only starts when I drive the 2nd Hummer into the zone (Ground 2 Hummer)

- a message appears saying that I have done this

- the smoke finishes when I leave the zone (up to a 5min wait of course)

Obviously, I really have zero idea what I'm doing wrong, but think once I get the principle in place, I'll be fine.

I have tried to link the zone (that looks for the 2nd hummer) to the 1st Hummer.  Thinking that this zone will move around the map with the 1st hummer.  Is that also wrong?

Thanks again.

'52

EDIT: I previously used the ME 'Unit inside Moving zone' trigger in another test map, but am trying to stay clear of ME triggers as it sounds like DML is all I need.  But is that not always the case?  Do I sometimes need to work DML in with ME?  

EDIT: Have added paused now to smoke, so it doesn't make smoke at mission start.  But now it doesn't ever make smoke.  Same as I never get a message.

Smoke and message when I drive 2nd hummer into the first hummers moving zone.miz

Edited November 9, 2024 by Gunslinger52

[cfrag]

12 hours ago, Chad Vader said:

Yea, weirdly, I loaded one of my other missions that uses DML, and this seems to have made the other mission work.

No scripts run when the server is paused, so a paused server does not do anything DML-related. Also, DML scripts must run before they can become active, so an "AT START" trigger is best to use. This isn't DML-specific, it applies to all mission scripts. Set your server to run on client connect, and you may make many issues disappear.

All that being said, from a mission's perspective, there is very little difference between a single- and multi-player mission. There are truckloads of DCS bugs in multiplayer, yes (sound not playing, menus not appearing etc), but that is not tied to DML, it's merely a disappointing manifestation of some lamentable state of QC on ED's side. 

13 hours ago, Chad Vader said:

the zones dont change hands in mp but the do in sp

TBH, this is probably an issue with the mission (or DML's code) itself, and not related to the number of players or server context. I'll be happy to sort this out, as it may make DML better, so let's try and trace this bug. If you can please PM the miz to me, with a description how I can force the issue in MP that works in SP, and I'm sure that we can get to the bottom of this quickly.  

[cfrag]

15 hours ago, Gunslinger52 said:

So in short: As soon as you take off again,  the landedAtZone1 flag changes state by itself?

Uh. No. Why would it? Put differently, what makes you think it would? Can I trouble you to perhaps read the brand spanking new chapter "The Yeller Model" in DML's docs, and apply it to your setup. Try and forget everything that you know about flags and other under-the-hood workings of DCS. In the yeller model, the LZ screams "landedAtZone1" when a player lands. That's all it does, and other zones who are waiting for that "command" react accordingly. The LZ doesn't "unscream" when a player takes off.

[DD_Friar]

16 hours ago, Gunslinger52 said:

So in short: As soon as you take off again,  the landedAtZone1 flag changes state by itself?

Hi @Gunslinger52, no, when a plane takes off the state of landedAtZone1 remains unchanged. departedAtZone1 however does get changed.

Other zones are looking for a change to the state of the flag, not by default a value.

I will take a look at you mission for you and see what I can find.

 

I thought I had posted this message but obviously did'nt. cfrag has also posted what I said above

[DD_Friar]

@Gunslinger52

Please find attached a mission which will hopefully help you.

nullI have a couple of tips / pointers as well.

• set your scripts to load at mission start
• I have included a little trick (that is in the user guide) of adding a blank message with clearview ticked that hides the script loading messages.
• in your original mission you had the message text as a flag (with a !) which is why you got no message.

Moving Humvee.miz

[Guest]

10 hours ago, cfrag said:

Uh. No. Why would it? Put differently, what makes you think it would? Can I trouble you to perhaps read the brand spanking new chapter "The Yeller Model" in DML's docs, and apply it to your setup. Try and forget everything that you know about flags and other under-the-hood workings of DCS. In the yeller model, the LZ screams "landedAtZone1" when a player lands. That's all it does, and other zones who are waiting for that "command" react accordingly. The LZ doesn't "unscream" when a player takes off.

Hi cfrag,

things like this made me think they do (or can do):

Thanks

'52

[cfrag]

11 minutes ago, Gunslinger52 said:

things like this made me think they do (or can do):

Thanks

'52

Yeah, English is not my first language, so this is bound to happen. What this text means to convey that the input "spawnObjects?" looks at whatever flag name that you write into the value field, and then reacts (spawns new objects) whenever that flag's value changes. In "Yeller Model" terms, the module listens over the "spawnObjects?" input and waits for whatever command you write into the value column. 

It's really hard for me to convey this abstract concept, so I invested almost two whole bottles of wine with a good friend of mine to come up with an analogy that may be better understood. It won't magically make the existing docs better, if I have the time, I may go through the docs and update them to also include the Yeller stuff. The spawner module is so old, they even predate the "Watchflag" terminology that I came up before (it seemingly did not help much).

Edited November 9, 2024 by cfrag

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, cfrag said:

Yeah, English is not my first language, so this is bound to happen. What this text means to convey that the input "spawnObjects?" looks at whatever flag name that you write into the value field, and then reacts (spawns new objects) whenever that flag's value changes. In "Yeller Model" terms, the module listens over the "spawnObjects?" input and waits for whatever command you write into the value column. 

It's really hard for me to convey this abstract concept, so I invested almost two whole bottles of wine with a good friend of mine to come up with an analogy that may be better understood. It won't magically make the existing docs better, if I have the time, I may go through the docs and update them to also include the Yeller stuff. The spawner module is so old, they even predate the "Watchflag" terminology that I came up before (it seemingly did not help much).

 

Danke vielmal.

That has helped a lot.  I am trying hard to figure things out before I hit the forums each time.

Last thing for a while:  I have been searching for a way to raise a flag when a specific unit is destroyed.  As I can't find it, I presume that this isn't required, for some obvious reason

Have a good one.

Uf Widerluege

'52

[cfrag]

37 minutes ago, Gunslinger52 said:

I have been searching for a way to raise a flag when a specific unit is destroyed.  As I can't find it, I presume that this isn't required, for some obvious reason

(blush) well, yes. Remember that I'm a bit brain-damaged from years of mission design without DML:

Never needed it since, though.

Edited November 9, 2024 by cfrag

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, cfrag said:

(blush) well, yes. Remember that I'm a bit brain-damaged from years of mission design without DML:

Never needed it since, though.

 

Lol.  You'll bounce back somehow

Thanks again

'52

[ClausHoffmann]

Dear All,

I am working on a training mission. The player can choose to be notified, when he reaches a waypoint properly. Notification is an audible beep and a message. To achieve this I have included a soundfile into the missions (see first picture). This inclusion was successfull (see second picture). The trigger logic is as shown in the third picture. Messages appear on screen as intended but no beep can be heard. Can somebody help me to get this right? Thank you very much.

Cheers Claus

 

[cfrag]

On 11/10/2024 at 4:52 PM, ClausHoffmann said:

To achieve this I have included a soundfile into the missions (see first picture).

Mission Editor automatically removes any resources that arent referenced by trigger rules during 'file save housekeeping' to keep the files small. This can cause grief to anyone who (like you) attempts to include additional files. 

In order to include your sound file, and ave it in the correct location, add a new trigger rule (ONCE, any name, I call it 'Load Audio), add a Condition "Time Later Than" and make it a large number, e.g. 999999999 so it will never be executed, and then add actions "Sound to all" with your audio files. This makes sure that the miz references the sound files at least once, never plays them in-mission (realistically) itself, and (most importantly) they are accessible to DML and other scripts that try to play them.

[DD_Friar]

@cfrag

Do you have a resource for the correct cargo item descriptions to supply to objectSpawn Zone please?

I have just tried as per the ME but does seem to work.

I am looking for the Huey netted one and the container?

[cfrag]

46 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

I am looking for the Huey netted one and the container?

Yeah, DCS's API strikes again. 

Here's a list of the cargo objects: https://github.com/mrSkortch/DCS-miscScripts/tree/master/ObjectDB/Cargos

uh1h_cargo is the one that you are looking for, and the type name is "uh1h_cargo"

How can you discover that on your own? You can't.

[DD_Friar]

Got it, thanks my code now works.

[DD_Friar]

Module: cargoReceiver

@cfrag or anyone else that has used the module, I would appreciate your advice / feedback.

Having added cargoManager and cargoReceiver modules to my mission, when picking up a cargo, I assume I still use the default DCS cargo assignment (via Comms "All cargo") to generate the smoke above the cargo?

I create my cargo via an objectSpawn zone from a radio menu command.

It is just that I am sling loading my cargo and dropping in my cargoReceiver zone which should generate a message but nothing is happening?

I am releasing when I get the voice command "the cargo is on the ground" and I am within my cargo Receiver zone?

Any tips / experience from anyone using this module? Does what I describe sound like it should all be ok?

[Guest]

On 11/10/2024 at 2:20 AM, DD_Friar said:

@Gunslinger52

Please find attached a mission which will hopefully help you.

nullI have a couple of tips / pointers as well.

• set your scripts to load at mission start
• I have included a little trick (that is in the user guide) of adding a blank message with clearview ticked that hides the script loading messages.
• in your original mission you had the message text as a flag (with a !) which is why you got no message.

Moving Humvee.miz 241.16 kB · 1 download

Hi DD_Friar,

thanks again for the mission you made, it has got me started now!

In the mission attached however, the Hummer that spawns when I drive the Hummer (on the runway) over the mine, isn't driveable.  Do you know of a way to make it driveable?

Thanks again

'52 

Smoke on dead Hummer v5.miz

[DD_Friar]

@Gunslinger52 - Without looking at the mission my first thought was either you have used a static model or not ticked the "player drivable" on the unit.

I assume you have Combined Arms as well as that is needed.

I will have a look at the mission later and let you know. I am at work at the moment.